DAN Osborne has finally admitted cheating on Jacqueline Jossa, saying: "I’ve made mistakes. I’ve done things I shouldn’t have done."
The former TOWIE star's relationship with Queen of the Jungle Jacqueline has been dogged by accusations of infidelity for years, but Dan has always stayed silent or furiously denied the claims.
But after a tumultuous lockdown - that even saw Jacqueline move back in with her parents at one point - Dan has decided to lay his cards on the table so the couple can have a fresh start.
While he claims many of the cheating rumours have been overblown, he says he has now confessed everything to Jacqueline and, “takes full responsibility for being crap”.
And in a searingly honest interview, Dan has held his hands up to the cheating and even admitted he would have left Jacqueline, 27, if it were the other way round.
But now he wants to put all the negativity and heartache behind them by renewing their wedding vows and having another baby.
Speaking from the family home in Essex, he said: "I’ve made mistakes, yeah. I’ve done things I shouldn’t have done. Me and Jac have spoken about that and she has forgiven me.
"I know in the past I’ve denied things when they’re not true, then when something has been true, I probably just kept my mouth shut. I was a different person.
"It seems a cliché to say, but I was a young lad and on TV and stuff. I’m not saying you get big headed, but you get dug out for things anyway and then you’re feeling s**t in yourself.
"And then you get a bit of attention... then things are bad at home, so you go out and get p****d instead of working on fixing things.
“It’s a bunch of mistakes all built into one that made it bad. So, I take full responsibility for being crap."
He added: "There have been times where if it were the other way round, I would have left.
"I would have gone, so I've said to her 'I wouldn't blame you if you left me'. I’ve said that to Jac.
"I've said if it was the other way around I’d be gone, it's not like I've been brushing off any mistakes that I’ve made. I'm fully aware of them and I'm aware that it ain't right.”
PLAGUED BY THE PAST
Dan and Jacqueline have been together for seven years after meeting at an awards ceremony in 2013, while Dan’s ex Megan was pregnant with his first child, Teddy.
Shortly after they met, Dan took Ferne McCann on a date during an episode of Towie and Jac defended him, tweeting: “Leave him alone, he’s single and can do what he wants.”
However a couple of months later, the pair confirmed they were together and Jacqueline fell pregnant with Dan’s second child, Ella.
After a two-year engagement they married in 2017, but almost immediately their relationship was blighted by cheating rumours.
In May 2018, The Sun revealed the couple had split after rows about Dan working away from home when Jacqueline was eight months pregnant with their daughter, Mia.
Dan starred in Celebrity Big Brother in 2018. He ended up coming in third place on the show and winning an army of new fans - afterwards he admitted that going on the show saved his marriage because it made him realise Jacqueline "was not as bad as I thought".
But last year when Jacqueline went to Australia for her victorious stint in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, the rumours about Dan's infidelities reached fever pitch.
“I’ve made mistakes in the past and now I want to live my life and be able to go out with friends and stuff like that,” says Dan - who fears after years of cheating allegations he will never be able to speak to anyone without them bringing up the past.
“I just want to go out with my friends and just live my life normally - I don’t want to be accused of doing this and that just because I’m pictured speaking to a woman.
“Sometimes people look at me horribly in the street and whisper about me in shops and I want it all to end - I don’t deserve that. I can’t be scared to talk to anyone for the rest of my life.”
Dan admits there have been times when it has all become too much for him and he thought the relationship was doomed.
I don’t want to be accused of doing this and that just because I’m pictured speaking to a woman.
Dan Osborne
But weeks away from Jacqueline when she was in Australia at the end of last year made him realise exactly how much he loved her and determined to make it work.
“That month away from her I missed her so much more than I thought I would,” he revealed.
“I struggled without her. She was on the other side of the world and if she needed me, I couldn't even get there, I couldn’t speak to her as she didn’t have her phone.
“When I saw her on TV I was like, I hope she comes out now, I wanted her to win but I wanted her to come out as well. Once she was out, I felt good, I had her back.
“I just wanted to feel that normality - that was it, we had a chat on the bridge and she said from then she just wanted a fresh start and we agreed to put everything in the past.
“She’s had time away and she had the greatest experience of her life and I think that’s what’s important.
“We’ve been through amazing times, all the way down to the worst possible, terrible moments and then up and down again, so if we can get through all that and then come out on top, it shows how strong we are.
“It’s not a case of us being weak or just putting up with each other, if we were to separate we would have called it a day and we both would have got on with our lives, but with Jac being away it made me appreciate her a whole lot more and made me change as a person a lot.”
Explaining the changes he's had to make to save the relationship, he said: “Now me and Jac have got to a point where she comes out with me.
“It doesn’t have to be me going out with my mates - it can be us going out with our mates. We can get a babysitter and do things together. We love each other and want to be together.
“You’ve made mistakes and you’re an idiot, but I don’t want that to be the end of us so can we work on that.
'TIME APART'
“She’s a strong woman. To be able to forgive someone and move on from all these stories, imagine the stories that she felt knowing her family are reading that.
“It’s been tough for me but it’s probably double tough for her as well, so it shows how strong she is.”
Even since Dan's realisation, it's not all been plain sailing and he admits they have really struggled in lockdown. So much so, Jacqueline moved out for a few days for “time apart”.
He said: “It was the pressure of lockdown I think, we had to entertain the kids, we had nothing to break out time up with, we couldn’t go out to restaurants or see our friends and family - my son Ted was ill and when I can’t see him my energy drains and I’m lost without him.
“We agreed to have a few days apart so we could have time out and that was all it was - we didn’t split.
“Now lockdown is easing things have been great, everyone is more relaxed and Jac and I are getting on great - we both just want a clean, fresh start together now.
“In relationships you don't just brush things off and then say you can't do this because two years ago you made a mistake or whatever, it needs to be healthy and that’s most important and that’s what we’ve been working on.
"Everything between us is looking good, everything is nice in the house now, the kids are happy, we’re happy, it feels good.
"It’s how I’ve wanted it to be for a long time and it’s finally got back to that. Obviously I take full blame for when it wasn’t happy... But now i'm just happy that we’ve got through it.”
Now Dan truly believes they have put the worst behind them and the future is looking bright.
He is keen to mark their fresh start with a grand gesture and plans to renew their wedding vows and have another baby.
He said: “We want to renew our vows and do it properly this time. If we look back at our wedding pictures, it was amazing but since then there’s been so many negative things, it’s sort of tarnished it, so we both would like to renew our vows and put the past behind us and do it properly from there.
“We’d go abroad or something small. We had a big wedding so we won't do that again. I will buy her a new ring as her wedding ring broke.
“If you see any recent pictures oh her she's only got her engagement ring on, so I think we’re going to wait until we renew our vows before she wears another wedding ring.”
We want to renew our vows and do it properly this time.
Dan Osborne
And does Dan still wear his wedding band?
“I wear mine – I don’t find it comfortable, but I have to wear it - I’ll get in trouble otherwise.
“Jac says to get her name tattooed on my wedding finger if I don’t want to wear a ring, but I don’t know...”
And now Jacqueline is home from Ibiza where she was shooting her new In The Style campaign alongside pals Billie Faiers and Charlotte Crosby, Dan says they are going to try to give Teddy, Mia and Ella a little brother or sister.
“I think it’s lovely to have a big family. Jac wants one. But having four kids - do I have to buy a limo?
“We’re not getting to trying yet. When you have done it three times, part of me is like, just let them three grow up.
“But then, there is another part of me that when I look at the pictures - like little Mia - you think that when they are that age, they’re just cute.
“We would like one, I guess. Jac looks amazing pregnant and it would be nice adding to the family.”
Now their days are spent as a family once again and Dan says he and Jacqueline live for their children.
“The things that people don’t see is we’re amazing with the kids and everything with the family, it’s really special,” he says smiling.
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“We both love food, that’s one thing we have in common. We like our little trips to Dubai.
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“It’s just a normal life with the kids and dancing around together to Baby Shark a hundred times a day and having a laugh and having little picnics in the park with the kids.
“We both enjoy each other’s company. Even after nearly seven years I’m still as attracted to her as I was when I first met her. She’s beautiful.”
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